Marketing Matters is a blog that tells marketing stories from an industry, academic and student's perspective. We confront and debate today’s business trends. Views expressed by the blogs do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Sydney Business School.

Friday, 31 January 2014

As the
Christmas season approached last year, my 13-year-old son asked me if Santa
Claus was real. It made me aware of the
fact that he is getting older, and beginning to question some of the ideas he
previously simply accepted as the truth.I procrastinated in giving him a direct answer. Instead, I left my son
wondering if there is something special and unexplainable about the Christmas
season. I wanted him to believe that sometimes
special occasions and seasons take place when common things seem to turn into real
magic; a time when people want and choose to share goodness and happiness with
others.

For marketers,
Christmas can be a very special time in which to bring something unique to
their customers. We recently saw a great case in Australia of reaching
customers and inspiring loyalty in a creative way through theWoolworths and Bringing Christmas Together with Jamie Oliver campaign. Another exceptional
example of a marketing
miracle was created by marketers from the Canadian airline company, WestJet.

A marketing
campaign that began in August 2013 was launched shortly before Christmas when 250
pre-selected passengers from two WestJet flights were surprised when their
Christmas wishes came true.

Guests were
greeted by a digital Santa Claus at the airport before their flights. Santa asked
travelers what they desired for Christmas, while airline marketing ‘wizards’ secretly
recorded the information. Once the flights took off, WestJet staff members in
the destination cities scrambled to collect the presents to fulfill the passengers’
wish lists. When the two flights arrived, the passengers routinely gathered at the baggage claim expecting their
luggage. Instead, they received the surprise of their lives when they were met
with the gifts from their wish lists. According to WestJet newsletter, almost 360
gifts varied “from socks and underwear to a snowboard and an Android tablet to
a big screen TV” had been collected. What started as a simple idea to please
customers during the Christmas season quickly went viral, with more than 25
million YouTube viewers of the WestJet Christmas miracle video.

Whether it was
a hearty gesture from WestJet to its customers, or just simply a smart piece of
marketing to generate positive brand perception, or perhaps both, I must admit that
the WestJet marketers did a fantastic job of positioning its brand in an absolutely
stunning fashion. "It makes WestJet
stand out as a company that goes outside of the norm to take care of its
customers," said David Soberman, the Canadian national chair of strategic marketing with the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. For the full article see 'WestJet brand soars thanks to viral video hit' in Winnipeg Free Press.I have watched
this heart-warming video with my son many times, and believe it is an example of
how miracles can be real if there is someone who makes them happen. Perhaps
from this point forward he will start to believe in good marketers, rather than
Santa Claus.Elena Sveshnikova: Current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School.

Wednesday, 22 January 2014

The
topic of branding has been weaved throughout the entire fabric of theMasters of Marketing program. In the Innovative
Marketing Strategies unit, we learnt that experiential marketing is a key
factor to brand building as it encourages deeper and more frequent thinking. As
markets continue to become more complex and competitive, many brands are turning
to experiential strategies in order to differentiate themselves, to capture
audience hearts and minds, and to drive growth.Experiential
marketing can be a significant investment so it has tended to be dominated by
large global brands such as Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola have led the way in
experiential marketing through campaigns such as the “Hug-Me” and the
“Happiness” vending machines through to the "Small World Machines"
campaign. That said, I recently heard of an innovative experiential campaign
called “My Picture My Statement” which was executed by Giorgio Armani in Tokyo.My
friend Ashleigh took part in this campaign that involved inviting members of
the public to become a model for a day and have their picture taken in Armani
clothing at a nearby store. The campaign went something like this:

The
entire interaction was well executed and controlled to ensure participants had
the desired brand experience. Exclusivity was key and participants initially
received a warm VIP welcome, had the store to themselves, were free to look
around and select an outfit before being the star in their own Armani photo
shoot. I put a few questions to Ashleigh to try and determine the impact of
this campaign:Me: Have you ever been into an
Armani store before? Are you more likely to go again?Ash: No I hadn't really been before.
Yes I would go again - now I know that the clothes fit me. I really want that
dress I wore!Me: Would you have bought Armani products
before? Are you more likely to now?Ash: No I hadn't bought them
before. It's still a bit pricey, but as I walked around I looked at all the
prices and it was actually cheaper than I thought. So I'll keep it in mind.Me: Has it put Armani above other
luxury brands that might be in your consideration set?Ash: It's moved it into the
consideration set.The
exciting thing about this campaign is that Armani is actively targeting a new
audience in order to widen its appeal within the saturated luxury goods market
in Tokyo. The Armani brand tends to conjure up images of the fashion literate
elite, but this campaign makes the brand more accessible in the minds of many
potential new customers. It also encourages a shift in attitude towards the
brand, creates positive associations, drives online and offline word of mouth,
and most of all lets the participants test drive the product through an
in-store experience. Who wouldn’t want to buy something they have selected and
look great in (especially when they have a photo, and hundreds of Facebook
comments, to remind them of how great they looked)?The
campaign will play a critical role in spreading information about the brand but
it does come with a number of risks. Armani loses some control of its brand and
it also can’t be seen to be diluting its prestigious reputation within the
fashion world. However, careful execution will minimise these risks and, I
think, result in two core benefits for Armani. Firstly, they are likely to
convert dormant customers into buyers, and secondly, the brands exclusivity
will be strengthened, as its products will still remain aspirational for many.
This desire is an important ingredient to ensure the long-term success of any
luxury product. Luxury brands are not immune to today’s challenging market
conditions and it is good to see Armani rising to the occasion and trying
something new.What do
you think? Should Ash buy the dress? Is this a good route for luxury brands?

Monday, 20 January 2014

Understanding
your customer is fundamental to any successful brand. Marketing research seems
to be the key ingredient for many winning stories. Therefore, the big challenge
for marketers is to figure out the right method for the question at hand.Now, more
than ever, the tool-box for market research is huge. For instance, online
surveys are now used as a knee-jerk answer to just about anything. I argue,
however, not every research question might be answered through only a digital platform.
And, of course, none of those web data-collectors can fully substitute direct
one-on-one engagement.In
completing my final Master of Marketing consulting project, I have
constantly doubted myself on research design. With my client and their
customers being based online, I deliberated over whether or not it might be
meaningful to jump into a face-to-face journey. In my Master of Marketing classes I have learnt about how
crucial it is to understand customers on a personal level. The recentWalhub case also emphasised this topic for me.

The
American firm Upwellcreated Walhub - a new electrical switch cover that has space for your
keys and mail. Upwell first wanted to
thoroughly test whether this concept was marketable prior to entering into large-scale
production. But instead of going the trendy digital research way, Upwell
marketers approached their customers in a real-life shop environment. As Upwellrecently unveiled, their marketers were
uniformed as regular IKEA staff who occupied some space at a local IKEA with Walhub
samples boxed in an IKEA manner.

Personally,
I think the Walhub research approach was simply awesome.They wanted to observe how their potential
customers would respond to the new product in a real retail situation - would
people even have the desire to purchase this item? Marketers then recorded
those activities and articulated a marketing stunt out of it.

Looks simple and pretty
clever, doesn’t it? Just in one move Upwell nailed brand awareness and gathered
very personal customer feedback. I do love this
market research method undertaken by Upwell, even though some controversy is
involved. The results of this survey seem unclear about whether people were
interested in buying the exact product, or whether the outcome was influenced by
IKEA’s retail environment. But as an example of a creative research approach,
this Upwell case is a brilliant one.Whilst research tool-kits are doing a great job for particular business
cases, the art of the market researcher, therefore, is to go beyond narrow and
comfortable research methods, and to design marketing research that will really
get to the bottom of things.

Thursday, 16 January 2014

No, I’m not talking about what will be
gracing the window fronts of fashion retailers. With a new year come new
resolutions, new habits, and new attitudes. As a marketer, anticipating these
new trends can be critical. For example, while all things digital has been
growing for a while now, the Internet is aflutter forecasting a trend in 2014
that will see people put down their devices.

JOMO.

A
competitor to the very successful FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) acronym, JOMO is
here to help people embrace the Joy Of Missing Out. Trend forecaster JWT has
listed JOMO as one of its top
10 predictions for 2014, and explains it as living mindfully and switching
off.

The Huffington Post explains JOMO, and it’s interesting to see even companies like Google embrace
‘silent mindful lunches,’ where you won’t see any phones or laptops sitting
alongside your chicken salad.

What will this mean to social media this
year? Will people really switch off and stop uploading their most recent meal?

With JWT predicting another trend being the
end of anonymity, with surveillance technology fast growing to soon track every
single purchase decision we make, it’s not a surprise that people are turning
away from their screens. For a marketer, this seems like a double-edged sword,
providing more insight but also more resistance.

In our Ethics and Regulatory Environment
paper, we often discussed in class the shifting position of using technology to
learn more about consumers and tracking people’s habits. While there is no hard
and fast answer as to what’s wrong or right, I think that JOMO could be a great
movement. Not only will it give people more time to themselves, it can also be
the step that pushes companies to find more engaging and innovative ways to
connect with their customers.

Tuesday, 14 January 2014

We’re refreshed and excited for the new year! Marketing Matters will continue to bring you news from the Master of
Marketing course, along with insights, news and opinion related to all things
marketing.

2013 saw the largest cohort yet, and many
of us have worked incredibly hard to finally arrive at our final project. With
the first ever mid-year intake, many of our fellow students will also be
continuing their studies in 2014. Congratulations to everyone on their
fulfilling time at the University of Sydney Business School!

About the Bloggers

Alyce Brierley is a student in the Master of Marketing Program at the University of Sydney Business School. With a degree in Creative Industries (QUT), she has recently returned to Australia after working for the last six years in Paris as Copywriter and an English Language Consultant. Alyce is a culture, travel, food, and wine enthusiast with a love for learning languages. She is currently working in partnership with a tech start-up in the wine industry as a wine blogger.

Bowie Chen is from China and a current student in the Master of Marketing program at the University of Sydney Business School. Bowie has several years experience working in FMCG marketing, media (esp. TV station), and consulting firms.

Hazel Chen has 8 years work experience in the Beverage Manufacturing Industry with the role as Technical Leader and Manager, covering Logistics, Marketing, Laboratory and Prototyping function. As a part of Master of Marketing program, she has the confidence to consolidate all the experience with Marketing study to understand overall market to a great extent.